Living an inspired life means you’re in touch with your dreams. In fact, Dr. Dorothy Martin-Neville claims that dreams are essential! “It’s not reality when we don’t have a dream. I truly believe we are embodied souls and our soul speaks through us through every dream we possess.” ”When you listen to what your soul wants you to do, your health is phenomenal, your body wants to sing and it wants to dance,” says Martin-Neville.

But what if you don’t have a dream or haven’t reached for it? “If you have not achieved your dream to its fullest, it’s because you have bought a message that said you couldn’t…it was too hard, you weren’t qualified, you didn’t have what it takes, it’s other people who get to have dreams.”

Hear Dorothy’s amazing story of starting out life as an orphan, living in the ghetto, becoming a nun then shedding her habit to travel the world and creating The Institute of Healing Arts. Lots more including how you can get back in touch with your dreams and why “good girls” need to dream too to let their souls sing and bodies dance!!

Jerry Craft loved to draw. After a career as an advertising copywriter and then an editorial director for Sports Illustrated for Kids, Jerry decided to strike out on his own. His dream was to write and illustrate comic books. But he realized that by using his experience in the advertising-editorial world, he could make a living using both his creative talents and his business know-how to create the award winning Mama’s Boyz comic strip and other books and products he has authored and illustrated.

Jerry Craft, creator of Mama's Boyz comic strip making a difference

Listen to how Jerry tweaked his dream so that he could work creatively on different projects, be his own boss, give back and make a difference in his community and to various causes through the voices of Mama and the Boyz, and still do what he loves to do.

Go Green - Our first guy to recognize as a bloomer! John is driven by his commitment to benefit and inspire others to be socially responsible. As head of Electronic Recyclers International, he’s not afraid to “bloom” and tirelessly works for recycling efforts and green change. He can be heard on the Clear Channel radio network as the co-host of the immensely popular and informative show, Green is Good. More

Dallas Woodburn

Follow a Passion - “I published my first book, There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose, when I was in fifth grade. The teachers in my elementary school asked me to speak to their classes about how I pursued my dream of publishing a book. At the beginning of my talk, I asked the kids if any of them were interested in writing, and a few shy hands raised. In contrast, at the end of my talk when I asked the same question, nearly all the hands in the class shot up.” Read On

Valerie Bennis

Healthy Lifestyle - “It seems like a lifetime ago that I was smoking cigarettes, drinking sugar free soda and rarely exercising. That was my lifestyle when I was in my 20s. By the time I was in my later 30s, I had started exploring natural healing modalities, like massage therapy, Reiki, aromatherapy, homeopathy, nutrition, supplements, exercise, etc. There wasn’t anything in particular that sparked this transition – simply a desire to look and feel my best.” Read On

I published my first book,There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose, when I was in fifth grade. The teachers in my elementary school asked me to speak to their classes about how I pursued my dream of publishing a book. At the beginning of my talk, I asked the kids if any of them were interested in writing, and a few shy hands raised. In contrast, at the end of my talk when I asked the same question, nearly all the hands in the class shot up. The students told me they didn’t know that kids could be writers. They didn’t think of writing as something that could be fun or empowering.

Writing and reading have opened the doors to so many amazing opportunities in my life: a scholarship to attend college, a semester studying abroad in England, a trip to New York City to be a guest on The CBS Early Show. Not only that, but writing gives me a healthy outlet to express my feelings and connect to other people.

I started “Write On! For Literacy” in 2001 to encourage kids to discover confidence, joy, a means of self-expression, and connection to others through reading and writing. My website www.writeonbooks.org features writing contests, book reviews, fun writing prompts, and more. I still frequently visit classrooms to speak to kids about my writing journey (another published collection of short stories and a novel followed There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose) and I teach a Youth Summer Writing Camp every year in my hometown of Ventura, California.

Perhaps my most rewarding project is an annual Holiday Book Drive that I started to collect and distribute new books to disadvantaged kids who do not have many books of their own. More than 11,000 books have been donated to date.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that it is okay to start small. The first year, my Holiday Book Drive only donated 125 books to the local Boys & Girls Club. Still, even small acts make a difference, and small acts often snowball into amazing contributions bigger than you ever dreamed.

What is your passion? How can you use what you love to help others? Get friends involved. Spread the word to your community. Overwhelmingly, I have discovered that people very much want to help, but they don’t always know what they can do. If you can supply a meaningful avenue for people to help, they will join your cause.

One of my favorite quotes is by legendary basketball coach John Wooden: “Make each day your masterpiece.” Don’t wait until next week or month or year to make a difference. Start small. Start today. The most important thing you can do is begin!

Dallas Woodburn is an award-winning author and journalist whose work has appeared in Family Circle, Writer’s Digest, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. For her volunteer work, she has been honored with a national Jackie Kennedy Onassis/Jefferson Award, a Congressional Award Gold Medal, and most recently a “Best of You” Award from Glamour Magazine. Learn more about Write On! For Literacy at www.writeonbooks.org and http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com/

Can you really love what you do for work? Nancy Anderson, the author of her groundbreaking book, Work with Passion, says, “Yes!”

Guest: Nancy Anderson author of Work with PassionLISTEN on Bloom TalkPodcast: Recorded April 1, 2010 (43 min)

I’m often asked if anyone can really love what they do. To set the record straight, Nancy Anderson joins me with her new book Work with Passion at Midlife and Beyond and asks:

Are you as happy on Monday morning as you are on Friday afternoon?

Do you work with or for people who have the same values?

Do you wake up in the morning looking forward to a new day of challenge and growth?

Does your work give your life meaning and purpose?

Do you make the money you need?

If you can answer “no” to any of these questions, then you’ll want to join Nancy and I as we explore working with passion. We’ll talk about Nancy’s intuitive and practical approach to create the life you were born to live and how you can find work you love.

As a lively tap dancer with the Blossom Tappers (love that name!), Louise lives life to the fullest and proves that age means nothing.

There are not enough hours in the day for Louise Cavallaro, age 81, to do everything she wants to do. But she makes sure she fits in dance practice, classes and performances with the Blossom Tappers, a senior women’s tap dance troupe she joined over 20 years ago.

“I loved ball room and square dancing with my husband. But when he died I was looking for something to do.” Ironically, while at probate court for her husband’s estate, Louise heard the tapping of feet across the hall. It was the Blossom Tappers, originally called the Orange Blossoms, and she immediately joined up.

The Blossom Tappers, currently ages 63 to 87, tap their way into everyone’s hearts, most recently performing at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven CT. Louise and the troupe were also invited to be the first senior group to take a workshop taught by a former Rockette and performed at Radio City Music Hall.

So I asked this peppy senior, what gives her such a zest for life? “I’ve always had a get up and go personality and also take kickboxing and aerobics. I don’t think about my age. Until last year, I never stated how old I was in years. But, my daughter recently said I should be proud to be in my 80’s and so active. So now I am proud and reveal my age.”

I also wanted to know which Seed for Success was important to Louise in her journey through life. “Owning my Life was something I had to learn. I was always a daughter, student, wife, mother and widow. I was so busy being all of those people, I didn’t have enough time left over for me. Now I found me…the person inside of me who does her own thing.”

Louise’s advice on how to bloom at any age. “Just be yourself and never give up. Always take a new path. I follow what my father taught me. The most important thing you learn in life is what you learn after you think you know it all.”

“How can I leave my job?” became “How can I stay?” when Deb Gillap-Bassler realized she needed a career change. Here’s Deb’s story of how she followed her passion …

Wow! I often think my life has been incredible. I have tried and enjoyed many occupations from fitness instructor to personal chef, marketing executive to interior designer, with an office overlooking the Statue of Liberty to a bullpen shared by 100+. The good, the bad, the ugly. It’s been really hard work because the pursuit to create the life I’ve always wanted has finally paid off.

I fell into marketing, suggested by a headhunter. With no other clear path and a good salary, why not try it? But it took so much work for me to be okay at it. Recognized for my loyalty and commitment, I still never really measured up with my peers. I was forever the square peg in the round hole.

A decade into my marketing career, I was still struggling with my role there and a lack of inner comfort in performing the job well. My job paid for the American dream - a house, a nice car, savings, etc., how could I leave? But the question clearly became, “How can I stay?” Read more

I’d love to share an email I received from a busy mom who started to Bloom in so many ways.

A little background first. Jennifer signed up for a BloomStorming session because she was struggling with a full plate of responsibilities but wished to carve more space in her life for things that really mattered, like volunteering as stage mom at her daughter’s dance recital. She couldn’t understand how to manage everything going on in her life and be available to pitch in back stage. Surrounded by guilt “weeds” for not feeling she was someone who could do it all…career woman working full time, loving wife and the best mom to two small daughters… she was stressed and stuck.

We discussed how she could get over the guilt and make her wish come true Read more

You Go Girl! is my cheer for Chris Rinere of Gogirlwrapperz because she sprouted a great idea, created a product and planted her Bloom Seed to Make It Happen.

As an avid tennis player and mom-on-the-go, Chris froze every time she had to dash off the court in her tennis skirt and out into the cold outdoors to get the kids or be somewhere on a schedule. “There wasn’t enough time to go into the locker room and get tangled up in sweat pants and sneakers and be where I had to go.”

That’s when Chris thought up the idea of a warm skirt with an easy Velcro closure that she could toss over her tennis duds in a flash. Read more